


Stay Clear and Close

by merlinus_ambrosius



Series: Fabled Spoils [5]
Category: Prospect (2018)
Genre: Cee Is an Adult, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Honeymoon, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25708372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlinus_ambrosius/pseuds/merlinus_ambrosius
Summary: A honeymoon one-shot. Independent, overachieving Cee takes her first steps toward adjusting to being a loving partner as well…all it takes is the right motivation.
Relationships: Cee x Ezra, Cee/Ezra, Ezra (Prospect 2018)/Cee (Prospect 2018)
Series: Fabled Spoils [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820116
Comments: 28
Kudos: 19





	Stay Clear and Close

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between chapters 20 and 21 (epilogue) in _Tethered,_ part 1 in the Fabled Spoils series. (Ten years after the movie.)

Here she was, on Lao. Her birthplace. Now, the site of her honeymoon.

Cee sat at the top of the wide veranda steps of their tiny villa and let the soft ocean breeze tease her hair. Far away in the tangle of trees behind the villa she could hear a nightbird calling, faintly. Thin, translucent clouds skidded across the night sky, every now and then temporarily dimming the stars. Lao’s distant moon was slowly rising in the east. The soft hush and hiss of the waves made the dreamy quality of her vigil complete. 

But a dream was the problem. She’d had that dream again—the second time this week, so much more vivid than the first time—and it was threatening to ruin her peace of mind.

It was the one in which she’d never met Ezra on the Green Moon. In the dream, her father had still died at nameless bandits’ hands, but Ezra wasn’t there to find her—only the Sater. Her resourcefulness was never enough and she was always dragged back to their compound. Where would she go anyway? She was friendless, and there was no way off the moon. She had escaped and been punished so many times in the dream that she’d begun to believe that death was the only way out. 

She’d awakened, shaking so badly that she feared she’d wake Ezra, and she knew she couldn’t bear to explain until she’d sorted it all out in her mind. So she’d carefully slipped out of bed, put on her wrap, and sat out here on the steps to calm herself. 

She hadn’t been terribly successful. 

The beauty of this place, which should have been soothing, seemed to mock her. To her left, at the bottom of the stairs, was the serene blue pool where Ezra had been teaching her to swim. Just yesterday she had managed to swim the entire length of it. She and Ezra had had a private celebration—well, several, actually—but really, her goal had been to swim out there in the rolling ocean waves. Which she didn’t have the courage for yet. It was frustrating, and she kept getting so easily distracted with Ezra as her teacher. 

Cee heard stirrings from the bed and tensed. She hadn’t figured out why a mere dream was continuing to make her so upset, why all her shortcomings were rising up to accuse her, and she didn’t want to talk about it. 

Ezra appeared through the sheer curtains that were the villa’s outward doors, hair a mess, and a little unsteady on his feet. She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her lips—it was nice not to be the half-asleep one for a change. Without a word he sat down on the step behind her and drew her into the circle of his body, cocooned inside the sheet he’d brought from the bed. 

Instant warmth, instant comfort. Gradual relaxation of her body back against him. How did he do this? How did he always make her feel at ease, at peace? Was there some magical quality to Ezra? 

Whatever it was, it was coaxing her head back to rest against his collarbone. And now, the lazy, unconscious movement of his thumb across her ribs was starting a slow smolder in every nerve of her body. Setting her at peace and on fire at the same time? Sorcery indeed. 

She captured his hand in hers so she could think again. He clasped her hand in return but still he didn’t say anything. He must be _very_ sleepy if his mouth wasn’t moving. 

“It’s so beautiful here,” she said. “Remind me next time we get married to put Carr and Glin in charge of everything again.” 

Ezra chuckled in response. While she’d made sure Ezra got enough sleep and ate and recuperated from saving their jumper out of Sector Eight, Carr had called in favors to get this villa and Glin had taken care of every detail and all the paperwork and arranged a surprise wedding. She hadn’t even known you could have a _surprise_ wedding, but Glin made it happen. She and Ezra had nothing to wait for after all, and no relatives to invite. 

She had never dreamed of such a honeymoon in such a place, let alone friends who’d gift her one. 

And she’d never expected to have such a husband, let alone one who was also a friend she loved as dearly as she loved Ezra. 

She heaved a contented sigh and Ezra rested his chin on top of her head. “Would you be willin’ to go out with me today—much, _much_ later today—into the ocean? I’d like to see if I’m any good at swimmin’ in there weak-handed.” 

Her breath caught. She’d been so focused on her own failings that she’d forgotten how it must feel to Ezra, taking on so many things he’d once taken for granted and now had reason to fear he’d fail at. There was a big difference between adjusting in a calm pool versus the uncertain sea. 

Maybe she needed to hammer home to herself that she wasn’t alone anymore. She had someone to help her, and someone she needed to help too. She had a partner now. It probably wouldn’t be necessary to accomplish everything on her own through sheer grit. In fact, it might not even be fair to Ezra to try. She really needed to think through this.

It was going to take some getting used to. 

She shifted herself up onto her partner’s lap so she could see his face. “I would love to jump in the ocean with you.” 

“Good,” he said. “I kinda like revelin’ in our achievements together.” 

When he gave her that sultry look her mind went completely blank. 

Who was she kidding? He didn’t even have to give her the sultry look—all he had to do was be Ezra. And, she thought as Ezra pulled the sheet over them again, they didn’t need any excuse besides loving each other to revel. 

  


  


“Ready?” Ezra said, raising his voice above the gentle crash of the waves. 

“Ready!” Cee repled. 

Ezra grabbed her hand, and together they plunged through the shifting, sucking surf out onto the calmer shelf before the waves broke. It was a much different experience from merely getting her feet wet on the shore. The water wasn’t as deep as she’d thought—it came up to her neck and midway up Ezra’s chest. She could feel a cold flow of water at the back of her knees, probably one of the currents that were so common here. She looked around at the sparkling green-blue water and the puffy clouds overhead, and she couldn’t help but laugh. 

“This is amazing!” Just as she said it, a wave pulled her out of Ezra’s grasp and began to break, but once it raised its head and turned white, it released her. She laughed again, spitting water out of her mouth. 

Ezra laughed with her, and she immediately plunged in and tried to swim toward him, but before she knew it, she had gone parallel to him. She turned around and tried to swim back, but it worked her muscles far too hard. 

He splashed toward her, grinning. “I would advise puttin’ your feet down and tryin’ to walk.” 

She refused to give in. “We’re supposed to be _swimming_! Swim to me!” 

She didn’t know if he was just stronger than she was, but even with only one arm he managed to go straight to her and pop up close enough to pull her into a kiss. 

“You cheated somehow,” she accused when she could speak. 

“Well then, turns out cheatin’s worth it,” he said, lowering his head for another round. 

But Cee dived under his missing arm and swam away from him. She flipped over on her back (she’d just learned that two days ago) and shouted, “Come and get me!” and then swam as fast as she could. When she realized she couldn’t hear him, she stopped, treading water (learned three days ago). She couldn’t see him. She put her feet down on the sandy bottom. “Ezra?” 

She turned in a full circle. No Ezra. “Ezra?” she called again, fear sharpening her voice. 

Something seized her from behind and she shrieked before she realized he must have been swimming underwater. She was going to learn how to do that _yesterday._

Another round of the cheater’s reward and how was she supposed to swim when her knees didn’t work? 

This was what had been happening all week. It wasn’t _fair_ that he drew her like a magnet and she couldn’t concentrate. Finally she had to hold him off with a straight-arm. “All right, buster. We’ll have plenty of time for that later. You need to teach me that underwater thing.” 

A smirk grew on his face and she clarified hastily, “The swimming underwater thing! How do you stay under like that for so long?” 

He showed her, but try as she might, she really was a true floater. She always ended up at the surface of the water. Ezra could stay as far down as he wanted for as long as he wanted. 

The sun was starting to slide into the horizon when they body-surfed back onto the white-sand beach. “There’s not much you can do to alter bein’ a natural floater,” Ezra said as they found their towels and dried off. “It’s simply the way your body’s put together. And trust me, Cee, you are put together just fine,” he added, giving her that lazy crooked grin. 

She ignored the flutter in her stomach—it was what had been causing all the problems anyway—rolled her eyes, and started up the path to the villa. She should have mastered swimming by now. There wasn’t much time left to get it figured out before they had to leave all this water. 

“I’m takin’ a shower,” Ezra called from the bathroom once they’d gone inside. A long pause and then, “It can accommodate the two of us…,” he coaxed in a singsong voice. 

She pretended she didn’t hear, resentfully concentrating on combing the snarls out of her hair. If he would just _teach_ her and stop interrupting her lessons, she would have gotten further by now. How dare he say she wasn’t a born sinker, _of course_ she was. And if she wasn’t, she’d _learn._

He came out of the shower, wearing only a towel, and smiled at her. 

It hit her then. 

She was an _idiot._

One of the handsomest men she’d ever met, and he was hers. And she’d been getting mad because he was distracting her from a stupid _swimming lesson_? Because he wanted her? On her honeymoon? What else were honeymoons _for_?

Ezra was not a distraction. He was the _main attraction._

Cee groaned. How had she let her priorities get so jumbled? Why had she decided Ezra could only want her on her terms? There were literally rocks out on the beach that were smarter than she was. 

“Indeed,” Ezra said from beside her, tipping up her chin with a finger. “You’ve encapsulated my feelings upon seein’ you emerge from the shower too.”

It wasn’t too late to make it up to him. She seized his arm and pulled him into the bathroom with her. 

  


  


Later on they built a fire on the beach and roasted sausages and potatoes for dinner and then curled up in each other’s arms to watch it burn down, as night fell, into the only flickering light along the water. 

Ezra pulled the blanket closer around them. “So has this been all connubial bliss so far for you, Cee—six whole days in—or is there some bite in it as well?” 

She could never slide much past Ezra. She gently touched the fading sunburn on his nose. “You can ask that, sitting there looking like the answer to every woman’s prayers?” 

His smile dawned. “I am not immune to flattery, Cee, but answer the question.” 

She kissed the sunburn, featherlight, then sobered. “The thing is, Ezra, that I never prayed that kind of prayer. After Anteo, well, I started to think it wasn’t possible that I’d ever find someone. And I just… I’ve realized that I’m not that great at being a partner, a real partner. I’m so used to doing things myself, mastering things, taking matters into my own hands… Ezra, you’ll tell me if I’m not doing this right, won’t you? I don’t want to blunder off away from you when I should be walking alongside you.” 

“I remember the best partner in the known universe in the Green.” 

She nestled into him. “But that was ten years ago, Ezra. I’ve fought a lot of battles since then on my own. I’m used to going solo.” 

He brushed his fingers along her bare shoulders. “I’ll tell you if you’re runnin’ off from me, Cee, all right? But from what I’ve seen of you these last few weeks, you’re stayin' clear and close.” 

She remembered those words from the Green, and it was a comforting answer. She was tempted to let the conversation rest. But this wasn’t just about her. She was a partner now, so she asked him, “And you? What’s the bite of our honeymoon for you?” 

He sighed. “I have been reminded, Cee, on a regular basis, that I am no longer in my youth. There will come a day when you’ll have to be patient with me. Even more patient than you already are.” 

“We’ll be patient with each other,” Cee promised. She didn’t want to think much past next week, if she was being honest, but she would keep her word. “What’s been your bliss?” 

She was expecting a swift, physical answer, but instead Ezra was quiet, thinking. 

When he spoke, she heard a faint tremor in his voice. “It’s knowin’ that you know everything about me, Cee—you’ve seen me at my worst and you’ve forgiven me and you’ve borne with me. You’ve given me a second chance and even a third one. You’ve seen good in me that I never even knew existed. You make me believe it’s there. You know all about me and not only do you still like me—you love me.” 

“I do love you,” she whispered, moved. “I love you so much, Ezra.” 

They held each other close, rather desperately. “I can’t believe we have to go back to the real world after this,” Cee said. “My bliss has been you, Ezra. Everything about you. You loving me back. I don’t want this to end.” 

“It won’t _end,_ Cee. We will merely shift our location.” 

Her heart leaped hearing this revival of the optimism she’d known from him on the Green Moon. 

“We’re always gonna belong to each other, Cee. That is the promise I made weddin’ you, and I intend to keep it.” 

She nodded, because the lump in her throat made it impossible to speak. She had to swallow three times before she could even whisper, “Me too, Ezra. It’s my promise too.” 

  


  


Cee hoped it was not the return of her old nemesis, insomnia, but she couldn’t sleep. She didn’t feel anxious though. In fact, it was the opposite, as if the swift-flowing happiness running under the surface needed an outlet. 

And so here she was, lying awake looking at the stars. There was so little light pollution here on Lao, and now that the moon had set, the sky was inky black and the stars blazed in contrast. She could lose herself in the vastness, if it wasn’t for Ezra’s arm curled around her ribs, anchoring her. 

She thought they were going to regret sleeping out here on the beach in the morning. But after all they’d done today, they’d been too lazy to climb up the path to the villa. They could always soak away their stiffness in the hot springs later if they needed to, and Ezra, as she was learning, would no doubt make that a lot more interesting than it sounded. 

Not that she was a stranger to sleeping in odd places. She remembered that first night on the Pug after she’d made the fateful decision to leave Ezra in the med center and strike out on her own. She’d locked herself in a storage locker near the boards, wondering the whole time whether Ezra was going to make it, and second-guessing her decision not to burden him with her presence. She’d dozed on and off, and when she emerged in the wee hours of the morning, not even having limber sixteen-year-old muscles had saved her from the aches and stiffness. 

She had gone to the broker Ezra had told her about, as soon as the shop opened, and cashed in a fraction of the gems—she’d take more in a few days. She didn’t want anyone in the Pug following her thinking she had a fortune in cash. 

She took a circuitous route back to the med center to put the points down on Ezra’s account. She’d made the mistake of asking about him—the attendant, looking up from the paperwork, seemed to be taking particular note of her. 

“He’s fine,” the woman had said slowly. “It appears he’s recovering nicely after the surgery. What’s your name, honey? He’s been agitated, worried about someone out on her own…”

But Cee turned and ran. 

She wondered what would have happened if she’d stayed. She knew now that he’d gone home to his wife as soon as he could. She tried to imagine his poor wife’s reaction if he’d shown up at the doorstep with a teenage girl. She didn’t know enough about Myna to know if she’d have been delighted to welcome an orphan, or if she’d have assumed the worst of Ezra. Ezra had said she’d welcomed him gladly, so maybe the former. At least at first. It seemed to have fallen apart pretty quickly for them, and Cee was glad she hadn’t made it any more complicated. 

She had to believe now, lying here beside him, that her decision had been for the best. Fate, or whatever it was that had drawn her back to him, had brought them together when the time was right. 

She listened to the waves crash, lap, and hiss back into the ocean. If she’d had the choice, she still would have picked here to be born. She knew that this villa on a private isthmus was ridiculously expensive and her parents likely had no Carr to pull strings for them, but she wondered what their last holiday before she came had been like. Or perhaps, more accurately, their last holiday _when_ she came. They’d probably gone to one of the cheap hostels blocks away from the water on the mainland, maybe even on the bay side where the waves were barely even waves. 

But still, the stars would have been the same. The same stars she was looking up at tonight. She wondered what her parents’ plans and dreams had been, and if they’d ever slept under the stars on the beach. Well, no, likely if her mother had been very pregnant, she’d have been too uncomfortable sleeping on the ground. But still. Had they agreed ahead of time to name her Cee? Had her mother been happy to have a girl? What had they been doing for work? Did they have the little place on Kamrea then? Had her father delivered her himself, without the aid of med personnel? Had he been a better man then, before he started with the drops? 

She hadn’t thought much about Damon in the whirlwind of the last few weeks. She had always tried to be a good daughter, as much as a resentful and angsty teen could. But she couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of her mouth when she thought of how he’d react if he could see her now. There was probably something terribly wrong with her that she thought it was amusing. But she had hashed through all her anger over the danger his actions had put her in, had forgiven his domineering long ago, and she’d never been so happy in her life as she was now, secure in Ezra’s love. 

She turned and snuggled into Ezra’s chest, and went to sleep. 

  


  


They woke to fat raindrops splatting on their faces. They scrambled up, holding the blanket over them, and sprinted up the path and into the villa. 

“They said it never rains on Lao,” Ezra grumbled, draping the damp blanket over the back of the villa sofa. 

They needed some jav, Cee thought. She stumbled over to push the button on the villa’s fancy machine. 

After three cups, Cee could stand and look out at the sheets of rain so thick even the sight of the ocean was lost in the fog. 

“It’s strangely beautiful,” she said. 

Ezra disagreed with a growl and disappeared into the bathroom to shave. The sound of the rain’s patter mesmerized Cee as she watched. Ezra came back out and rubbed his damp cheek against Cee’s. “Does this meet Cee’s approval?” 

“Mmm. Smooth.” She closed her eyes and smiled at how this seemed like an old married couple thing to do. 

After an interval, Ezra gave her a final nuzzle, poured another cup of jav for himself, then wandered into the walk-in closet along the back wall by the bed. “Cee,” he called a minute later, “where’s all the merchandise from our shoppin’ expedition?” 

“On the shelf!” she yelled back. 

A short silence and then he shouted, “Where?” 

A giggle bubbled up. Now they sounded like an old married couple too. Well, it was their one-week anniversary, after all, so... 

Cee went into the closet and pulled the bags down. They had gone on a last-minute spree before the wedding, mostly to buy Ezra clothes and basic necessities since he’d lost all his in Sector Eight, but they’d thrown a few other things in too. Ezra pulled out one of them now. 

“ _The Starscape Boy_? You’re going to read the sequel to _The Streamer Girl_?”

“No.” Ezra dug around in the other bag. “Not without these.” He grinned, holding up a pair of cheap reading specs. Cee laughed and threw her arms around him before giving him a noisy buss on the cheek. 

“I could read to you,” Ezra wheedled as he walked to the sofa and turned on the lamp behind it. “You could put your head on my lap…”

“I know how that will go. We won’t get past page three.” 

“It should keep. The book does not appear to have an expiration date. Whereas I shall expire without Cee beside me.” 

“Oh, Ezra, I think I want to go walk in the rain. It’s so beautiful. I can pick up the food for today too.” Every day the resort left a huge chilled container of food for them at the junction of the isthmus and the mainland. Generally it was pretty fancy stuff for people who’d eaten slurry through a tube out of a squeeze pack, but she and Ezra weren’t complaining. Or at least, she wasn’t. “I’ll be back. I’ll make it worth your wait,” she promised, dropping a kiss on the top of his head. 

“Well, in that case, I withdraw my objection. Consider gratification delayed. But my expectations are high, Cee. Very high.” 

She blew him a kiss and darted out into the rain, which had tapered to a soft drizzle. She ran down to the beach and let her feet sink into the wet sand. Turning her face up to the sky, she let the water trail down her face. Rain was actually warm here when it came down, unlike anywhere else in the galaxy she’d ever been. She walked along the beach till it grew so narrow that the forest enveloped it, then walked back the other way, past the villa on the hill. The light from Ezra’s reading lamp shone as a faint glow through the sheer curtains. Her heart warmed to know there was a partner waiting for her there. Wanting her to come back. Eager to hear her thoughts and tell her his. Never leaving her alone again. 

Tears were just as warm as the rain here so it was hard to tell them apart. 

She kept walking down the beach toward the other side of the isthmus, where the waves crashed in harder without the breakwater that guarded the villa’s beach. She stood letting them break at her feet for a while, but the crash and roll was a little too intense here. Just as she retreated to safer ground, the rain ended suddenly. Though the threatening clouds remained on the horizon, the sun broke through, brilliant enough that she had to shade her eyes against the glare. 

She meandered back down the beach, toward the boulders she’d never explored. She hauled herself up on the first one, carefully because she’d left her shoes behind, and who should be cautiously making his way across them, also barefoot, but Ezra. 

“I thought you’d be down here,” he said. She loved this man so much, but what in the world was he wearing paired with his swim shorts? She slipped her hand into his. That busy shirt was far worse than the holey socks. 

“I can sense your disapproval of my apparel. I was assured, Cee, that this is high fashion on Lao. Besides, it prevents sunburn as well as anything else.” 

She did not remember that thing going into the bag on shopping day. She’d have to be more vigilant. “We don’t want you getting burnt again like that first day, true. And the shirt is…not boring,” Cee said, giving up fighting off a smile. “But you know, Ezra, that I’m never ever going to let you buy anything like that again.” 

He grinned at her. “You are sounding more wifely by the moment.” 

She wondered suddenly if she was doing any of this right. She opened her mouth to ask him about Myna, but at that moment he squatted suddenly by a tide pool. “Look at that, Cee. Do you recall those organisms on the Green Moon that belched out steam? They lived in the swamp, ugly as sin, looked like giant blisters with fur?” 

“These look exactly like them!” Cee said, kneeling beside him. “Ew, what if these spit too?” She yelped and scrambled backward as it suddenly squirted out a stream of water. “Ugh!” 

Ezra helped her to her feet, grinning. “At least I haven’t seen anything like those six-legged hairy scorpions.” 

She closed her eyes, repressing a shudder. “Oh, Ezra. At least I missed those.” 

“You didn’t, actually,” he said cheerfully, retaining her hand as they clambered down the rocks. “When you dropped your gun that time, there was one on the ground right by the tether. It didn’t seem like the time to point it out to you, especially when you weren’t too keen even on channelrats, which are far less disgustin’.” 

“Let’s talk about something nicer,” she said firmly. 

“Let’s talk about gettin’ our food.” He tugged at her hand and led her down toward the end of the trail. “And then we can talk about that gratification…” He stopped and slid his arm around her waist. “Mutual, of course.” 

Cee slipped her arm around him too. “Sharing with you is the best,” she agreed. 

  


  


_The Sater shouts faded as she ran, sometimes stumbling, into the wilderness. She knew it was only a matter of hours until she’d be dead, the dust eating her lungs and causing her to die of suffocation. But there was no hope, and anything was better than being their slave, a quick death rather than a slow one—_

Cee woke, sweating and shaking again. She’d had this dream on and off for years, but never so many times so close together. She tried to throw off the sheet, but it was too tangled around both her and Ezra, spooned up against her and still fast asleep. 

She took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Just a dream. She was still shaking though. She carefully sat up and tried to slide her legs free of the sheets, so as not to wake Ezra—

 _What was she doing?_

Instead she lay back down and turned to face Ezra. She shook his shoulder. 

“What, Cee?” he muttered. His first act was to wrap his arm around her and pull her closer, as if that was possible. 

Warm tears spilled out of her eyes as she pressed her face into his shoulder. 

“Cee?” He was patting her rather helplessly, but it didn’t matter. He was giving her all the solace of his Ezraness. What had she ever done to deserve this wonderful man? Already the nightmare was fading into insubstantial mists, and what was real was Ezra’s solid body against hers. 

“That dream again?” he asked. 

How did he know? Had she ever told him? 

She nodded. 

He was cradling her head, smoothing down her hair. “Shh now. You’re safe, here with me…”

She was, oh she was. Why was she so slow to understand? Why hadn’t it occurred to her before to _ask_ for his comfort? She had so much to learn…

“…here with me…” 

And now the double-dose of Ezra magic was working, as always, both soothing and smoldering. 

Even though their honeymoon would soon end, she swore to herself that no matter how many years passed with him, she would always embrace that magic.

  


  


Cee was doing really well, considering it was actually very early in the morning. It had been a long jumper trip, with delay upon delay because of strikes, mechanical issues, weather—you name it. They both had caught naps along the way, and now the ConVe set them down in front of Ezra’s house. Her house too now. She smiled at the thought as they walked to the front door. But Ezra didn’t go in. 

“What’s up?” Cee asked, because those were the shortest words to use. She needed either a few more hours of sleep or about six gallons of jav. 

“You know that legend I was tellin’ you about, Cee?” 

“Which one?” There had been a lot of stories going on in the jumper and she wasn’t sure she could sort them out this time of day. 

“The one wherein the groom carries the bride over the threshold to ensure health, wealth, and fertility.” 

“Oh. Well, we don’t believe in that, do we?” Though it was still pretty dark out, she could see the look in his eye. “We do? Ezra…” Carrying was definitely a two-arm thing. 

“The legend is not specific as to the technique,” Ezra said. He lifted his eyebrows at her. 

It was too early for her to read his mind. Or even think much. Nevertheless she dropped the bags she was carrying and sighed. “Okay, Ezra, what do you—” She ended on a faint shriek as Ezra bent and swept her up so she was draped in half over his good shoulder. He carried her into the house and slid her down just inside the door, brought the bags in, and closed the door behind him. 

“Do you think it took?” Ezra asked with a grin. 

“How’s it supposed to ‘take’? It was definitely not dignified.” Cee smoothed down the hem of her dress. “But,” she admitted, pulling him close, “it was _a little bit_ fun.” 

“I’m pleased to hear it,” said Ezra. He swooped her up again. “Because legend dictates that the effect is doubled should the groom carry his bride to the marriage bed.” 

Cee knew perfectly well he had made that last part up, but he seemed beyond reform. Better just to humor him on this point. Being married was about meeting each other halfway, after all…

  


  


_Something was different with her body._

Cee knew she was dreaming and tried to wake herself. There had been a version of the dream once in which she knew there was another life inside her, and she had still run away from the Sater into the Green to die, and she never wanted to have to face such a terrible choice again…

_She was exhausted. She felt battered, a mixture of dull aches and sharp pains and muscles heavy with fatigue. She was hungry too. But she didn’t care._

Why didn’t she care? This was different. Cee stopped struggling to wake herself and let the dream flow on. 

_There was someone propping pillows behind Cee and brushing her hair and saying soothing things. The midwife? Cee wished she’d go away and stop bothering her. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Ezra and the baby._

 _The awe on Ezra’s face as he looked down at his child brought tears to her eyes. He and the dark-haired baby had locked eyes, each looking in silent wonder at the other. Ezra’s lips moved, but his voice must have been choked with tears, because no sound came out._

Then, as dreams did, the scene fast-forwarded abruptly. _The midwife was taking the fussing child from Ezra’s arm_ —or were there two arms? Cee strained but couldn’t see— _and brought the baby to Cee in the bed, saying something about nursing. Cee was happy to try but she wanted to put her arms around Ezra, who looked bereft. The midwife showed her what to do, and she said, “Ezra, come here with us.”_

__

__

_The midwife clucked something, but they ignored her and Cee drank in the eagerness on Ezra’s face as he squeezed onto the narrow bed beside her. He rested his cheek on Cee’s other shoulder and put his hand on the sleepily nursing baby’s head._ It was the surge of quiet joy that fully woke Cee up. 

The tears streamed down Cee’s face and she burrowed her face into the crook of Ezra’s neck. 

“What, Cee?” he asked when he woke, same as last time, pulling her closer with his arm and a leg too. 

She couldn’t answer. Poor Ezra. She had cried more in the last month than she had in the last ten years, and most of it she’d done on his shoulder. 

“Was is that dream again?” His voice was rough with sleep. 

She shook her head, and some of the tension went out of him. He rubbed her back until she had ahold of herself again and she pulled back so she could look into his face. 

“It was a _good_ dream, Ezra.” 

She described it to him, and even in the dim light filtering into their bedroom, she could see hope transform his face. 

“Cee…” 

She touched his cheek. “It was just a dream, not a prophecy,” she whispered. 

“But someday, Ezra…maybe someday, not too far in the future...” 

  


  



End file.
